An aerial view of the Ratcliffe power station near Nottingham, England. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images With the last coal-fired plant closing on Monday, we chart the rise and fall of the once-indispensable fuel that powered modern Britain End of an era as Britain’s last coal-fired power plant shuts down Britain’s transition to a low-carbon future has reached a milestone with the closure of its last remaining coal-fired power plant at Ratcliffe-on-Soar in Nottinghamshire. The shutdown of the 57-year-old power plant on Monday ends more than 140 years of coal power generation in the UK – an industrial story closely interwoven with Britain’s socioeconomic and political history. Between the point when Britain’s first coal power plant began generating in 1882 until Ratcliffe’s closure, the UK’s coal plants burned through 4.6bn tonnes of coal and emitted 10.4bn tonnes of carbon dioxide, according to analysts at Carbon Brief, more than most countries have ever produced from all fossil fuel sources. The end of an era has been welcomed by trade unions, green campaigners and politicians as an exemplar for how polluting industries can be wound down while safeguarding its labour force and communities. It also provides a chance to look back and reflect on the central role coal has played in powering modern Britain: The coal revolution Britain’s reliance on coal dates back to the Roman empire. The British Geological Survey believes the Romans may have begun mining in the Nettlebridge area of Somerset, England, close to the Fosse Way, to source coal used as fuel to heat baths and forge iron. But it was the Industrial Revolution when coal came into its own as a crucial driver of Britain’s emerging industrial might. Demand for coal exploded in the 1700s thanks to a population boom. Initially, the nascent British mining industry struggled […]